Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and more. Featured Book or Magazine of the Week. Story Recommendations. Battle of the Books.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Aaron's Book of the Week :: 20 Million Miles to Earth by Henry Slesar

The Book of the Week is 20 Million Miles to Earth by prolific pulp and screenwriter Henry Slesar, published in 1957 by Amazing Stories. This was the first and only digest novel Amazing Stories issued, and it is the digest-format book most prized by collectors today.

20 Million Miles to Earth is a novelization of the 1957 film of the same title, featuring a rampaging monster created by special effects legend Ray Harryhausen. A great part of the book's appeal to collectors is its campy cover image of the salivating monster. We'll have another digest book that is collectible for its outrageous cover art (and title) next week.

(Oddly enough, after writing this week's BOTW posting, I discovered that the film version of 20 Million Miles to Earth is on television this weekend -- on Saturday, January 12th at 4:30 p.m. Mountain time on Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Check it out for some campy fun, even if you may notice a slight difference in production values between it and the film that follows it on TCM, also made in 1957, The Bridge on the River Kwai.)

About us

We are readers, reviewers, and collectors of science fiction, fantasy, and horror books and magazines.
Blog postings are by:Aaron Hughes (Battle of the Books, Book/Magazine/Story of the Week). Aaron also writes fiction under his full name, Van Aaron Hughes.Amy Peterson (webmaster, tweets about our blog on Twitter, Battle of the Books, and other miscellaneous stuff).
ANDJackie Sachen Turner (our new reviewer for Battle of the Books)
You can contact us at:
fantasticreviews AT yahoo DOT com